Posts Tagged "streetmusician"
Vladimir: Retired Belarus Musician
Vladimir, 63, was playing in front of the Minsk food market on a cold, sunny December weekend. He said he retired from the state orchestra and occasionally plays at some private events, but prefers playing what he likes on the streets. He said he worked once as a musician on a US cruiseliner, a job his son found for him. Vladimir said he even played on the streets of NYC, once taking his trumpet to Chinatown, where he played a few hours. He said he prefers classical and Russian music though to American Jazz. "Russia has a lot of soulful music."
Nikita: Voronezh Street Musician
Nikita was talking with a police officer, a girlfriend at his side, when I saw him on a Main Street in Voronezh in central Russia. The street musician, armed with a guitar and microphone, had angered either a store owner or resident on the street and the officer was asking him to move. As he collected his stuff, I chatted with him. He said he rode a motorbike around town, enabling him to avoid the bad traffic in the city. He hoped to upgrade to a Honda and said he would like to open his own motorcycle repair shop. Nikita was talking with a police officer, a girlfriend at his side, when I saw him on a Main Street in Voronezh in central Russia. The street musician, armed with a guitar and microphone, had angered either a store owner or resident on the street and the officer was asking him to move. As he collected his stuff, I chatted with him. He said he rode a motorbike around town, enabling him to avoid the bad traffic in the city. He hoped to upgrade to a Honda and said he would like to open his own motorcycle repair shop.
Victor: Singing for Ukrainian Church
Victor was sitting on the sidewalk near a Moscow metro station singing softly as he played the guitar. A sign next to him said he was raising money for a damaged church in Lugansk in Eastern Ukraine. He said plays to raise money on his days off from work and that he has raised money for other churches in the past.
Nikita: Street Musician
Nikita, a beatbox performer, said he got into the music genre after seeing a video on the Internet. He said his father works in the lucrative oil and gas industry and wants Nikita to follow in his footsteps. Considering his father's background, I was surprised to hear that Nikita did his military service rather than find a way out. He added that he was discharged early after an argument with his senior led to a few knife wounds in his side.
Maxim: Street Musician (2)
A close-up of Maxim, a street musician who plays rock music with his guitar. He said he lived and worked in my hometown of NYC in early 1990s doing home repairs/comstruction work. He also said he plays on the streets in Berlin, where he claims he can make as much as several hundred euros a day, several times more than he can make playing on the streets in Moscow.
Maxim: Street Musician
I will post a short series of Russian street music performers. I will kick it off with Maxim, who was playing in front of the metro near my apartment in Moscow. He said he had been playing for about 1hr in 0c (32F) degrees and that his fingers were numb. Thus, he sent his fellow musician to fetch a bottle of vodka to warm themselves up so they could pkay a bit longer. He offered me to try the vodka, adding it was a quality brand ('5 Seas' brand). He said he planned on playing another 45 minutes before heading home. I asked him what kind of music he played. He said rock and that he was inspired by Pink Floyd.
